A/N: I think we should make a Maze Runner forum, If I start one, who will join?

The next morning, I went with Minho. I couldn't stand to be in the Glade any longer than I had to. My legs were itching to move, and I was really just getting restless. Newt had noticed. When I told him I was going with Minho, he sort of zoned out on me. He seemed reluctant to let me go. His hesitation was almost enough to make me stay, if only to find out why he was so worried. But as I had said, Almost.

Minho and I spent most of the run in silence, stopping only for a quick lunch-break. "So..." I said, pulling the sandwiches out of the bag. Minho only glanced at me. "C'mon, last night, you were Mr. Talkative and now you won't even say a word to me!" I said sitting down across from him.

I realized sitting cross-legged was not in my best interests. I really had to find my clothes. Minho raised an eyebrow, "Is that Newt's shirt?"

I sighed, "Yeah, they stole my clothes again.

Minho nodded, taking a bite out of his sandwich, "'they' meaning Gally."

"No! How'd you guess!" I said, my voice filled with sarcasm. He chuckled.

"Want me to beat it outta him?"

I laughed, then realized he might been serious. "Uh, no. I'll just wait for the next shipment of supplies. They usually include a pair of pants, that'll fit me."

He nodded, satisfied. We continued eating in silence. It was weird. Minho and I always talked, they were Never awkward silences, never! "Minho," I began, my sandwich finished, "seriously, What wrong?" I could see it. He was confused, angry, maybe with himself. His muscles were tense and his jaw was clenched. I moved to sit next to him. He jumped to his feet at my touch.

"We should- uh, we should get a move on."

I nodded sadly in reply.

"Whoa..." I said, skidding to a stop. "Minho... Minho, c'mere... I- I think it's dead."

He jogged back to me, joining me in awed silence as we stared at the seemingly dead griever. It's bulbous gelatin-like body lay with metal shear and spikes popping out at all ends. "It... looks dead," was he said.

"How do we know?" I asked, inching closer it. He put out a hand, as if to stop me, then lowered it back to its side. I didn't want to get to close to the thing... not after last time...

"Holy Hell!" And I ran, draggin Minho along for the first few steps. "Run!" He turned back.

"What did you do MaC?" he asked equal parts exasperation, fear, and awe. "It look angrier than Alby the day we stole his boxers!" I snickered while running for my life, if that was in any way possible.

"I dunno! Run!"

I had gotten stung that day. I remembered Minho, sweeping me off my feet and somehow, with me in hand, escaped the beastie. I went through the Changing... A nasty process.

I could feel the sensation of hands holding me down as I thrashed about... but it was distant... like I was out of my body... All I felt was this... Pain, an unbearable pain that seemed like it was everywhere. I couldn't control my body... I strained to make out the words they spoke..."MaC... Changing... Shuck... Shank... Newt?" What were all these words... they sounded so familiar... The answer seemed just out of reach... The figures were blurry... I couldn't see out of my own eyes... I felt as if I was being pulled from my body... leaving the present. Flashes of my past flew before my eyes. I remembered being there... but not there... in my former self, not being able control a thing... like I was reliving the experience...

I don't remember much of it now... Though there was one memory... I shuddered at the thought of it.

I was around thirteen... That was all I could remember... A woman screamed in the background, "No!" I turned...

"Mother!" The woman was my mom. I can't recall any of the detail now... not her face, her smile, a name... nothing. The memory continued as a man slapped her across the face, rendering her unconscious as she hit the ground. I thrashed in my captors arms, lunging for my mother, screaming for them to stop, to let me go...

The had laughed... what kind of person were they to laugh at the word, 'no'? I remember being tied, thrown roughly into the back of a van.

They went on talking about how much money I'd make them. There it got a bit fuzzy... Something about WICKED and a (not-so-nice word that isn't at all familiar) Munie, whatever that was...

I had been out longer than was normal after a Changing. Minho and Newt had been worried sick...

"Well, then why isn't she waking up?" the two had said at the same time, causing the Med-Jack to back down slightly.

"I- I don't know-"

I had sat up, groaning at my throbbing head and tingling body. Newt and Minho had practically tackled me. Pelting me with questions, but I just couldn't remember... Newt had slung an arm around my shoulders laughing to himself...

"Did I miss something?" I said, looking between the two. Newt's arm dropped, as he was overcome with laughter.

Minho's replaced his. He pulled me a little closer, whispering into my ear. My jaw hit the floor with a thud-

"MaC? MaC!" I was torn back to reality...

"Oh, uh, yeah. We should go tell Alby... now!"

"Good that." he said, grabbing hold of my wrist and sprinting toward the Glade.

We gasped for breath, hunching over on our knees, barely able to stay on our feet... "Remind me..." I said in between breaths, "Never... to go...runin... with you...again..."

He chuckled, "How... come... Can't... keep up?" his breathing was as labored as mine.

I smiled, "You wish!"

We both fell back, simultaneously giving into exhaustion.

"Alby!" I turned, slowly... Tommy? "Newt! Somebody get them!" Yup, it was the newbie. I sighed...

Thomas rushed over, kneeling beside us. "Hey- you okay?" Minho's chest heaved... as did mine.

"I'm...fine," he said, "Who the klunk are you?"

"I'm new here," he said. I snorted. That much was obvious.

Minho sat up, "Thomas, right?" I nodded. "You and the chick." I rolled my eyes at the word 'chick'.

Alby came jogging up, "What're you two doin' back? Minho? What happened?"

"Calm your wad, Alby," Minho replied. "Make yourself useful and get us some water- dropped my pack out there somewhere, MaC's wasn't enough for the two of us."

I sat next to him, my breathing beginning to steady, but my throat still dry as a desert. Alby didn't move. He kicked Minho in the shin- too hard to be playful. "What happened?"

"I can barely talk, shuck-face!" Minho yelled, his voice raw. "Get me some water!" I laid a hand on his arm, calming him.

"Alby, get the water..." my voice was just as raw as Minho's. He didn't move. "Now, shuck-face! We ain't got all day!"

Alby looked over at Thomas, the slightest hint of a smile crossing Alby's face before being crushed by the on-coming scowl. "Minho's the only shank who can talk to me like that without getting his butt kicked off the Cliff." Without meaning to, I snorted... Alby glared. Muttering about me.

Then, seeming to surprise Thomas. Alby ran off... Hopefully to get some water.

"He lets you boss him around?" Thomas asked. I burst out laughing.

Minho only shrugged, "You scared of that pip-squeak? Dude, you got a lot to learn. Freakin' Newbies."

"His barks is much worse than his bite, Tommy." I said.

"Isn't he the leader?" Thomas asked, confused.

"Leader?" Minho barked a grunt, an unusual laugh that always made me smile, "Yeah, call him leader all you want. Maybe you should call him El Presidente."

I shook my head, a hand rubbing my eyes (all they wanted to do was close), a smirk creeping onto my face. "Admiral Alby."

Minho smirked back, "There you go," he rubbed his eyes, snickering.

"So who is the leader if he isn't?"

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Thomas-"

"Greenie, just shut it before you confuse yourself more." Minho sighed, sounding almost bored. Then muttered, to me, Thomas, or himself; I'm not sure. "Why do you shanks always come in here asking stupid questions? It's really annoying."

"What do you expect us to do" I sensed his rush of anger.

"Do what you're told, keep your mouth shut. That's what I expect." Minho snapped, looking him square in the eyes.

Thomas backed, then pushed himself onto his knees so he was looking down at us. "Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what you did as a Newbie." I smirked, still had guts... maybe I wasn't so far off with that whole Runner idea...

Minho eyed him carefully, my hand was one his arm. I didn't want him freaking out on the poor kid. "I was one of the first Gladers, slint-head. Shut your hole till you know what you're talking about."

Thomas moved to get up, but Minho's hand snapped up, grabbing hold of his arm. "Dude, sit down. I'm just playin with your head. It's too much fun-" I rolled my eyes. Thomas smiled at that. "you'll see when the next Newbie..." he paused, his eyebrows wrinkling, "Guess there won't be another Newbie, huh?"

"Guess not."

Minho squinted at the boy, studying Thomas. "You saw the chick, right? Everybody says you saw her or something."

"I saw her. Doesn't look familiar at all." I sensed a bit of defensiveness in his voice.

"She hot?"

I stared at him."Minho!"

"What?" He asked.

I punched his arm, leaning back on my elbows. "You're so shallow!"

He shrugged, as if saying 'yeah, well I'm a guy'. Thomas paused. "Yeah. I guess she's hot."

Minho laid back and closed his eyes. "Yeah, you guess. If you got a thing for chicks in comas, right?" He snickered once more. Thomas chuckled a bit as I rolled my eyes and elbowed Minho's side.

"Right" he said. After a long pause he continued, "So... did you find anything today?"

I opened my mouth to talk, but Minho cut me off, his eyes opening. "You know what, Greenie? That's usually the dumbest shuck-faced thing you could ask a Runner." He closed his eyes again. "But not today."

I smiled to myself.

"What do you mean?" Thomas ventured.

"Just wait till the fancy admiral gets back. I don't like sayin stuff twice -'less MaC here'll tell you- Plus, he might not want you to hear it anyway."

He looked at me expectantly, "Just wait, okay?"

Thomas sighed. "Well, at least tell me why you look so tired. Don't you run out there everyday?"

Minho groaned, pulling himself and crossing his legs under him. "Yeah, Greenie, I run out there everyday. Let's just say I got a little extra excited and ran extra fast to get my bee-hind back here."

I snorted, "That's an understatement." Minho smirked.

"Why?" Thomas asked, "And..." he paused. "I didn't know you were a Runner, MaC."

"Yeah, well," I said shrugging, "There's a lot of stuff you don't know about me."

"But why did you guys come back so quick?"

Minho threw his hands up, "Dude. I told you. Patience. Wait for General Alby." He was yelling, but he wasn't yelling. He was just being Minho, annoying, hilarious, irritating, but somehow-still-my-best-friend, Minho.

"Okay," Thomas said, proposing a deal, "I'll shut up. Just make sure Alby lets me hear the news, too."

Minho studied him. He liked the Newbie, I could see it. "Okay, Greenie. You da boss."

A moment later, Alby walked up with two large plastic cups of water. He handed them both to Minho, who handed one-off to me. We each downed one in one breath.

"Okay." Alby said, thinking he had waited long enough. "Out with it. What happened?"

Minho raised his eyebrows and nodded toward Thomas.

"He's fine," Alby replied, "I don't care what this shank hears. Just talk!"

Minho struggled to stand wincing with every move, his body screaming exhaustion. I sat up, not feeling the need to waste what little energy I had to stand. Thomas however offered me a hand. I bit my lip, accepting the offer and leaning up against the wall, like Minho.

"We found a dead one," Was all he said.

"Don't you think you could be a bit more specific?" I said.

"Huh?" Alby said, "a dead what?"

Minho and I smiled, "A dead Griever."

A/N: Dun dun dun dun... Bet ya know what happens next. Anyway, Review! Sorry this one's long, but it makes up for the two short ones!

To Ahren15 and Absolutely Taylor:

Aww... Thanks guys your awesome!

PS. Taylor I love you're stories... Continue!